They can be daunting, expensive, powders, pellets, liquids, buckets, tubs and so much more. I personally have had a stormy past relationship with supplements. For a long time I did not use supplements at all. I would try them and they wouldn't work or my horse wouldn't eat them or they would be beyond expensive. I was lucky that I had horses that did not require supplements and maintenance. Around 2011, I had an epiphany and met my supplements soul mate: Smartpaks. Smartpaks had been around and I had heard of them but being my skeptical self, I did not buy into the idea. It was not until an acquaintance went to work for Smartpak that I became open to trying them. She convinced me to try it for 2 months and then I could make my decision. I began with a simple smartpak system of a basic coat supplement, gut supplement and joint supplement. My first shipment came and after a week, I was in love!
One of my biggest complaints about supplements had been what a pain they were. There is always that one horse with 4 supplements he needs am/pm and a liquid and the powders stick to the feed dish and it has to be cleaned and it takes 10 minutes just to feed that horse due to the measuring and little scoops getting lost and it was just a PAIN. Smartpaks literally take 2 seconds. Peel and dump it in the bucket. They are fresh, they can't get dumped, they take up less room. They send them automatically every 28 days so I don't have to run out and forget to order more or order too much or too little. They take up less room, have their own little drawers, have each horses name on them, clean and organized which makes OCD people like me smile :) Honestly, they do all the hard work for you. Oh and did I mention shipping is FREE???
I thought Smartpaks would be more expensive then bucket supplements due to the convenience. WRONG- I find them to be cheaper. Oh and shipping is FREE! Shipping on big heavy buckets of pelleted supplements can get very pricey $$$. No worries with that with Smartpak.
OH and they have the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE ever. Seriously they go above and BEYOND. I cannot say enough good things about their customer service. Seriously give them a call and you will see what I mean.
So enough of my shameless promotion of Smartpak; I am sorry but I truly find the company to be fantastic. Oh, I forgot that they have phenomenal horse products outside of supplements. So check those out also
As for supplements themselves, I have a few favorites. For coat supplements, I love Smartshine and Smartshine Ultra. Charlie gets Smartshine Ultra, Ella gets SmartDark & Handsome for her black coat and it has helped make her blacker then ever. For Joints, any of the SmartFlex supplements are great; Charlie gets SmartFlex II. Ella gets MSM from Smartpak; I love MSM, it is such a great simple supplement for horses in light work and it just plain works great. I am big on gut supplements as preventative for Ulcers. I use Smartgut, Neigh-Lox and U-Guard on my horses. Also, for summer I have used Smart Bug-Off and had success with it. I almost always get pelleted supplements if they are available; the horses eat them better and they are less messy. I love that Smartpak supplements are usually made for picky eaters and are very palpable. Also, Ella gets a slight cough when she is in the barn a lot, I have recently put her on Cough-Free and it seems to be helping. Outside of these, I have not had much experience with supplements but I can say that these have worked for me. I recommend talking to a Smartpak customer service rep. about supplements if you have questions. They are SO knowledgeable and helpful; they will find you something that works and if it doesn't work, they will find you something else.
So the moral of my story is:
1. Give supplements a try. I was skeptical but I am now a huge proponent. They might not be your thing but it is worth trying.
2. Smartpak has been the supplement system of my dreams. Give it a try.
3. These horses are very expensive and very fragile. Take care of them. Their health can be improved by supplements so explore your options and do what is best for your horse.
Here is Smartpak's website: https://www.smartpakequine.com/
Check it out :) if you have any specific questions, leave a comment!
Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored in any way by Smartpak. I just really like the company and have had a fantastic experience with them. This are my personal opinions and thoughts.
No comments